travel is more fun with kids

Stylish and green traveling backpacks for children

There is a wide choice of backpacks for children out there. I always buy some cute backpacks for my children as it is an item that usually lasts for a long time and that they use on a regular basis. I am not a big fan of backpack with characters as children change passion very fast and I am not ready to buy a new backpack every two months.

I made a selection of very cute backpacks that are available on websites that I invited you to browse for other items. They all offered a discount to buy any of their products.

Practical does not have to be not appealing. Children can and should be stylish too!

My traveling tip: Always check the backpacks of their children: you need to be aware of what they bring especially if you travel by plane: some objects are forbidden (liquids, scissors…). And you want to make sure that they are not bringing useless or bulky items or items that have a 5 minutes attention span.

FOR YOUR TODDLER

You need to stop at Peekagreen. Peekagreen is a green store, all the products are as green as green can be. I love their on the go selection: 

Use the coupon: GREEN15  and get 15% off the entire store.
Valid till 08/15/09

I have selected the cow lunch bag ($48) because having their own lunch bag will make your toddler happy to carry their own snacks in the airplane, car or train rides. And who could resist such an original lunch box?
It is PVC-free and lead-free The vibrant colors are created with Oeko-Tex 100 dyes, meaning no harmful substances have been used in the process.

   

For the busy toddler, here is a nice little doggie insulated backpack ($48). Big enough to carry some toys, crayons, and paper but not too big for their little shoulders. Be prepared to be asked where you got it!
It is also PVC-free and lead-free.

Tutti Bella is an online store that will charm you the toddler crowd who wants to have a backpack that looks like the one of their oldest sibling. They are priced at $24.95 and they are PVC free. They also have a bigger version for an elementary age kid (priced at $34.95). Take 15% off your purchase with coupon code FB15. Coupon expires 7/31/09

 

FOR YOUR GROWING KID

The Polka Dots Patch store at www.polkadotpatch.com is another destination for the growing children who do not want to have a babyish backpack but still want something cute and appealing. It received the seal of approval from my 11 years old, so if a tweenager is not afraid of finding these backpacks ‘cool’, your 6 year old will like it too!

$46

These are only a small selection of what you can find on Polka Dots. As children grow, they tend to bring more toys to get entertained. They know how to play and they show it to us by bringing their toy box with them when traveling.

Just tell them that they can bring only that they will be able to fit in the backpack. and you are good to go. These backpacks are the perfect size, and who can resist these cute little animals?.

You can 10% all orders without a minimum purchase. The code at checkout is “travelisfun” and will be valid until July 30th.

FOR YOUR TWEENAGER

Check out Fresh and Green to go to the next age range.!

The Ogo backpacks ($66) and its cousin the messenger bag will make the growing kids very happy. No characters, just abstract flowers and pirates skulls. They are PVC free, that proves that you can be ‘in’ and ‘green’

The backpacks are big enough for their growing bodies, they can carry their own life with them.

Enter the coupon code ‘moms’ and you will have 10% off your purchase.

   

PolkaDotsPatch has also a nice backpack that had my daughters squealing (always a good sign).($28)

 

And this cute little messenger bag ($52). Although when we travel, I usually prefer that the kids carry a backpack, leaving their hands free.

 

Have fun browsing these merchants website and follow them on Twitter and Faceboook.

FRESH AND GREEN
www.twitter.com/freshandgreen
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fresh-Green/21041779172
www.greendailygrind.com

PEEKAGREEN
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peek-a-Green/
http://twitter.com/peekagreen

POLKA DOTS PATCH
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Polkadot-Patch-Boutique/44824327044?ref=ts
http://twitter.com/polkadotpatch

TUTTI BELLA
http://www.facebook.com/pages/TuttiBellacom/105719707412
http://twitter.com/tuttibellakids

Bastille Day in France in videos and pictures

Happy Bastille Day!

We had a fun time celebrating Bastille Day in my little village in the South of France.

Pictures and videos are worth a thousand words so I let you discover how French kids celebrate their Country National Day.

On their way to the Veterans Memorial.

Entering the cemetery with the long line of people behind them


 

My uncle: one of the flag bearer



One minute of silence to honor our Dead

My too tired to walk but still patriotic little niece

Listening to the Mayor speech, then La Marseillaise, waiting patiently for the lollipops!

La Marseillaise

Bastille Day in Paris: a full day planned

If you are in Paris on Bastille Day (July 14^th), you will be able to enjoy a full range of festivities all over the City and admire the Parisian monuments on an other angle.

10:00 am Champs-Elysees

The ‘defile’ as we call it will start at 10:00 am with the arrival of the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy (avenue de Friedland).

10:35 am: defile in the sky!
10:40 am: Defile of the troups starts.
11:25 am: defile of the helicopters.

Then, you can enjoy the rest of your day in Paris.

Why not take the kids on a boat ride on the River Seine?. My favorite is the ‘Vedettes du Pont Neuf’. If you have strollers, be prepared for the long flight of stairs to arrive at the border of the river.
You will be able to enjoy a lot of the Parisian Monuments, see the smallest and oldest home in Paris, learn lots of fun facts (like which American city was modeled after Paris?), and see the beautiful Parisian bridges up close.

After the ride, you can take a break and enjoy the little park by the boat. (Square Vert Galant)

Finish your afternoon at Notre-Dame and the Quartier Latin. Then go to your hotel or apartment to take a nap or rest as the night will be long!

Versailles

You could skip the defile and the Champs Elysees and spend your day in Versailles where a grand Republican picnic will be held close to the Grand Canal. Please wear white for this special event. You will enjoy dances and live music.
The Palais de Versailes and the Trianon will be open free of charge for the public.

7:00 pm – Eiffel Tower

If you have tweenagers or teenagers, go and enjoy a free concert at the steps of the Eiffel Tower: Christophe Mae and French rocker Johnny Halliday will entertain the crowds. Johnny Halliday is widely popular in France.

Between 10:30 and 10:45 pm Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower turns 120! You will be able to see the majestic 30 minutes fireworks from every part of Paris where you can see the Tower. May I suggest the Bridge Alexander III (It is the bridge that takes you from the Grand Palais/Avenue des Champs Elysees to the Invalides). Check out this photo from my daughter at the bridge to see if you like the location.

The Sacre Coeur can be a good location as you will have Paris at your steps.
Place de la Concorde could also work although you will only see the top part of the Tower.

The Fireworks will be launched from the Trocadero and the Iena Bridge. Should you want to be close to the Eiffel Tower, you have to go to the Champs de Mars.

All over Paris

The bouquet final of the fireworks will announce the start of the bals populaire (dances), the firemen dances and the concerts all around the capital.

The firemen dances (bals des pompiers) are usually free. If you see a barrel go around the crowd, drop some euros as a donation.

Click here. for the locations of all the bals des pompiers.

Happy Bastille Day!

Photos from Eiffel Tower, bal and Champs Elysees – copyright from the Phototheque OTCP

Revolutionary Facts and Bastille Day Events in the Bay Area and above

I am French and my Independence Day is Bastille Day. Every July 14^th, when we lived in our little village in the South of France, my brother and I met our classmates in front of the Mairie (City Hall). We followed War Veterans all the way down to the cemetery at the other side of the village to pay our respects to the Fallen Veterans. All the way, the Cobla (music team) was playing music; the kids were waving paper French flags to the cars passing us by. Once arrived at the cemetery, the mayor (who was also the 5^th grade teacher at the local school) pronounced a speech commemorating the Fallen. We stayed silent for a minute in front of the Fallen Soldiers Memorial, then, the cobla played our national anthem, the Marseillaise, and we headed back to the City Hall where we would get lollipops after another Mayor speech and another Marseillaise. And then off to the main village square for local folks dance (Sardane). Even though I now live in the US, I spend every July 14 at my village and my two children are part of the Parade on Bastille Day. Since then, the city Hall has changed location but the Mayor is still the same (believe it or not!), the ritual is still the same, only my children are holding hands with cousins and friends (and not classmates). They still get the paper flags and lollipops!

Every French city and village will celebrate Bastille Day. If you are vacationing in France, the local office of tourism will give you all the information about the parades, bals (dances), and fireworks. If you are in Paris, I will publish a full post on the events happening in the city on Monday July 13^th.

If you are in the Bay Area, there are some kid friendly events happening this week-end and on July 14^th.  I have also included a link for parents only events. Check them out after the fun facts.

Revolutionary facts to share with your kids about Bastille Day

- There were only 7 prisoners at the Bastille when it was stormed by the people of Paris on July 14^th, 1789. The Bastille was a prison. Nowadays, there is nothing left of it on the ground, but if you take the Metro Bastille (Line 5), on the platform, you can see the remains of the walls.

- July 14^th, 1789 marked the beginning of the end of the French Royalty: King Louis VXI and Queen Marie-Antoinette were then beheaded in 1793.

- The King of France, Louis XVI was so clueless about the situation in Paris that the only thing he wrote on his diary on July 14^th, 1789 was ‘nothing’ (result of a hunting game). Because of the lack of efficient communication at that time, he learned about the Bastille event only the day after. When he asked: is it a revolt? La Rochefoucauld told me: no, it is a Revolution!

- France Motto is Liberte Egalite Fraternite (Freedom, Equality, Fraternity), these three words were first put together during the Revolution.

- The "tricolour" (three-colour) flag is an emblem of the Fifth Republic. It had its origins in the union, at the time of the French Revolution, of the colours of the King (white) and the City of Paris (blue and red).

- The French National Anthem called la Marseillaise is a revolutionary song.

Kid Friendly Bastille Day Celebrations in the Bay Area

Bastille Week-end at Santana Row, San Jose
July 11, 2009 - July 14, 2009
11 a.m.- 9 p.m.
Phone: (408) 551-4611

Click here for the detailed schedule of events

French Picnic at the Golden Gate Park
Sunday July 12th
Spreckles Temple of Music (located between the deYoung and the Academy of Sciences)
Bring votre T shirt raye and votre baguette for some live music and petanque. Listen to the Marseillaise played by the Golden Gate Quartet.
Petanque at 11 am. Concert 1:00-3:00 pm.

Celebrate Bastille Day on Belden in San Francisco!
July 14^th - 4 to 10pm
DJs, drinks, open restaurants, all the ingredients to have fun!
Restaurants: Sam's grill - Cafe Bastille - Cafe Tiramisu - Plouf - B44 - Belden Taverna - Trademark – Brindisi

Napastille Day
July 14th - 10am to 9pm
Oxbow Public Market
610 and 644 1st Street, Napa
707.226.6529
Live music, dancing, games, and of course french food specials.
Click here for the complete schedule.

French Potluck at the Alliance Francaise
1345 Bush Street, San Francisco
July 14th - 8:00 pm
Bring a dish or beverage and join the alliance Francaise community to celebrate Bastille Day.

If you want to make it a parents only celebration, check out the San Francisco French Chamber of Commerce Website for the full list of celebrations.

If you are not in the Bay Area, check Bastille Day events in these US cities:
Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, New York, Philadephia, Washington DC, New Orleans, Chicago, Milwaukee.

Happy Bastille Day!

7 Factories to visit in the Bay Area this summer

Visiting factories are lots of fun. It is nice to have a behind the scene view on how things are done. It is not always the first thing that comes to people’s mind or visitors but it should as I believe it teaches us so much on mechanics, tour de main or other technical skills needed to put together a fortune cookie or the amount of time needed to create a jelly belly bean. I have put together a list of some factories that are open for tours in the Bay Area. Visits are free unless written otherwise. I have classified them by location.

FAIRFIELD

1. Jelly Belly Factory
Location 1 Jelly Belly Ln, Fairfield,CA
www.jellybelly.com
Tel: 1-800-9-JELLYBEAN (1-800-953-5592).
The Jelly Belly Visitor Center is open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM PT, and factory tours operate daily from 9 AM to 4 PM PT, except Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, and Easter Sunday. They may also be closed the day before or after these holidays.
Tours depart approximately every 15 minutes throughout the day and last approximately 40 minutes. I do not advise to go on week-ends as the machines will not be working and you will miss on the experience. I went to visit it a while ago on a week-day and we had a fantastic time strolling along a promenade standing above the workers making the candy. A free bag of jelly beans is given at the end of the tour. You can enjoy lunch at the Jelly Belly cafeteria where you can eat jelly belly shaped pizzas .
 
After lunch, you can head to another factory located less than 2 miles away.

2. Anheuser Busch plant
3101 Busch Dr., Fairfield, CA
www.budweisertours.com/toursFAIR.htm
Open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. Jan - Dec
If you are 21 years of age or older, you can sample their products in the Hospitality Room

The complimentary tour of the Northern California Fairfield Brewery will guide you through a blend of rich brewing heritage and state-of-the-art technology as you discover how beers are carefully crafted.

SAN FRANCISCO

3. Fortune Cookie Factory
56 Ross Alley (at Jackson), San Francisco (Chinatown), CA
(415) 781-3956
It is located down the oldest alley in San Francisco: Ross Alley at number 56. While you are there, grab a bag or two of fortune cookies for snacks. It is a hole in the wall, you will be done in 5 minutes but I am sure the kids and you will love that little place. I know I do and I take anybody who comes visit us. They ask you to tip if you take photos.

4. Mee Mee Bakery
1328 Stockton Street (between Broadway and Vallejo) , San Francisco, CA
415.362.3204
The bakery is open from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm but visits only occur between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.

5. Anchor Brewing Company
1705 Mariposa Street
San Francisco ,CA
Tel 415-863-8350
They offer one public tour each weekday, by reservation only (try calling one month in advance to secure a date). The walking tour of the brewery lasts about 40-45 minutes. The tour guide will give you a brief history of the brewery and walk you through three floors of our building. Children are welcome to come on the tour, but of course may not taste the beer during our tasting session, which follows the walking tour. Altogether, the tour and the tasting last for about 2 hours, and tastings are only available to those who take the tour.

6. Girardhelli Chocolate 
Inside the Ghirardelli Ice Cream Shop at Ghirardelli Square you can see the original chocolate-making equipment in operation. (The Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory moved to San Leandro and is not open for public tours).
900 North Point St. San Francisco, CA
Tel: 415 474 3938

Open: Sunday to Thursday 9 am to 11 pm. The ice cream fountain opens at 10 am. Friday and Saturday, it is open till midnight.

PETALUMA

7. Mrs. Grossman’s Sticker Factory Tour
3810 Cypress Drive, Petaluma, CA
Tel: 1 (800) 429-4549
Reservations
Tours are Monday-Friday by reservation only. Go to Location & Hours for current tour schedules, or call to reserve your space!

Tours are $3.00 per person for ages 3 and up. They last one hour and they include a video, a guided tour of the factory, a craft activity, a visit to the sticker museum and a coupon for $3 off your purchase of $20 at the Company Store

Strollers are permitted in all areas except the production floor.
If you want to know more, check Debbie from www.friscokids.net great post on her visit to the factory with her kids.

.

Fourth of July celebrations in the Bay Area

Every city will celebrate the Independence of the United States with their own touch. I have selected one event in the Lake Tahoe, Sacramento, San Francisco, South Bay, East Bay, and North Bay areas to share with you. As for our family, there will be no 4^th of July parade as we will be in Bordeaux, France but we will certainly have a talk about the history behind the celebrations for the Independence from Britain. Being immigrants ourselves, we certainly can relate to the people who left their country in search for a better or different life.

LAKE TAHOE
From the Lake Tahoe Tourism Visitors Website:

Fourth Of July Fireworks Celebration Light's Up Lake Tahoe
The American Pyrotechnics Association rates South Shore’s spectacular Fourth of July fireworks celebration one of the Top 5 displays in the nation. They feature a wide variety of patterns, lights, designs and shapes. Scheduled to begin at approximately 9:45 PM.

The fireworks are visible from all over town. Below are some of the sweet spots to get a front row seat.

The Tahoe Queen and M.S. Dixie II: South Shore’s two Mississippi paddle wheelers offer a unique opportunity to view the light show from the water. Board the Tahoe Queen for a Dinner Dance Cruise or the M.S. Dixie II for a Fireworks Cruise. Both feature live entertainment and fantastic views of the evening’s display. Log onto www.laketahoecruises.com.

Nevada Beach: Located about two miles east of the Nevada casinos on Elk Point Road, Nevada Beach is the ideal setting for a family barbecue at the beach. A wide, sandy shoreline leads down to the sapphire waters of Lake Tahoe. Charcoal barbecues and picnic tables dot the beach. The view across the lake to the West Shore and Desolation Wilderness is unsurpassed. And the view of the fireworks display is one of the best in town.

Regan and El Dorado Beaches: Located right where Highway 50 meets the Lake, these connecting stretches of narrow beach are front and center for the fireworks. Arrive early! These beaches fill up with people who love to be right under the action.

SAN FRANCISCO
Fourth Of July Waterfront Celebration
Saturday, July 4 1:00 pm to 9:30pm at Pier 39
Rock out with 'Take 2' from 1-4pm followed by San Francisco's favorite 80's cover band, 'Tainted Love' from 6-9:30pm. Immediately after the entertainment look to the sky as the City of San Francisco lights up the night with it's Firework's Spectacular, accompanied by a musical simulcast from Kiss FM 98.1.

SOUTH BAY
4th of July Fireworks Spectacular with the San Francisco Symphony
Saturday, July 4 8:00p at Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA

Celebrate the Fourth of July with the San Francisco Symphony at the annual concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre. The evening concludes with a spectacular fireworks show and raffle, set to stirring patriotic songs and marches. Fun for the entire family begins at 5pm with pre-concert entertainment.
Click here for tickets.

Program:

John Williams - Liberty Fanfare
Charles Strouse - "Tomorrow" from Annie
Thomas - I Hear America Singing
Dvořák - Cello Concerto
Courage/Custer - Star Trek Through the Years
Holst - "Mars" and "Jupiter" from The Planets
Berlin/Healey - God Bless America

EAST BAY
Alameda City Parade

Coming at a little bit more than 3 miles long, the Alameda 4^th of July Parade is one of the longest in the country. It features marching bands, horses, carriages, the locals merchants and associations and is very entertaining for the family. You will find the route here.

You can finish the day at the USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier at Alameda Point. Celebrations will start from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm. You will be able to visit the museum and enjoy Visit the USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier on July 4 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Live music on the flight deck, interactive games for all ages, a bounce house for kids, tours throughout the day. At night, panoramic views of Bay Area fireworks from the flight deck. Food, beer and wine will be available for purchase during the event. read more

All-day admission is $25 for adults ($22 in advance) and $10 for children ages 5-17; museum members receive free. Tickets 510-521-8448 x 282 or visit http://www.uss-hornet.org

NORTH BAY 
Fourth of July in Calistoga from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
Lincoln Ave at Cedar St., Calistoga

Calistoga's main street will be filled with horseback riders, native dancers, inventive floats, vintage firetrucks, live bands, motorcycle riders, and much more.The Napa County Fair at the Calistoga Fairgrounds (1435 N. Oak St.) is old-fashioned fun and excitement for the whole family, with fireworks on the 4th; carnival rides, daily music headliners, Great American Petting Zoo, exhibits and more.

SACRAMENTO AREA
Rancho Cordova Independence Day Party
Hagan Park, 2197 Chase Drive, Rancho Cordova

During two days, you will enjoy making craft projects, ride steam trains, listen to live music (with Pablo Cruise as the leading performer), carnival rides at the Kids Zone and food and drinks booth and of course the parade and the traditional fireworks!

Click here for the full schedule of festivities.

Joanne at CityMommy pointed out to me more events in the East Bay.

Oakland:
Fourth of July Celebration
Saturday, July 4 12:00p to 6:00p
at Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate, Oakland, CA
A family outing with picnicking on our expansive lawns, music, and games for the kids. Children’s games: potato sack racing, three-legged racing, children's golf, hop scotch, Jacob's Ladder, ring toss, wood propeller, pick up sticks, tic-tac-toe, jacks, tops, and croquet. Bring a blanket and a picnic for your afternoon enjoyment of our sprawling lawns and duck ponds, and a jazzed up teddy bear or two for your child’s jaunt along the teddy bear parade (there will be prizes for best of show).
http://www.when.com/oakland-ca/events/show/87811783-fourth-o...

Berkeley Marina:
Free admission, alcohol-free event. Live entertainment, arts & crafts, food, kid stuff. Fireworks at 9:30pm. Sponsored by the City of Berkeley www.CityofBerkeley.info

El Cerrito:
The City of El Cerrito's annual July 4th Fair and WorldOne Festival will be held on Saturday, July 4, 2009, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Review for the Wild Palms Hotel: where kids are treated like VIP

Wild Palms Hotel
910 E Fremont Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA
408.738.0500
www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/wild_palms
Rates for the family-friendly package start at $89/night

Our family stayed at the Wild Palms Hotels in Sunnyvale this weekend. Kids are supposed to be treated as VIP (Very Intelligent Persons according to Daughter 1) and I was curious to see how the hotel would pull it together.

At check-in, I was handed 4 entrance card keys: two for my husband and I, and two for my children. According to my children, just having your own key qualifies for being a VIP: they were thrilled. I was also asked if we wanted milk and cookies right now or later during the afternoon. Milk and cookies ? Thank you, I will take them right now, we will need some energy before swimming in the pool. I have two girls aged 7 and 10 who get easily excited, so the milk and cookie surprise upon entry into the room started some squealing that must have been heard by half the hotel guests. VIP? You bet! While entering the room, they discovered a queen bed for each of them to sleep in with lots of pillows. Then, at the side of each bed was a wooden basket filled with snacks, juices, a geography activity book and goggles! All this in front of a flat screen TV. We do not have a TV at home so that was a nice treat for them. Daughter 2, 7, exclaimed: ’I feel like I am already a princess, I want to live here’ and the always nice for us: ‘I wish our house was like that!’

 

So as far as VIP status, I believe my children agreed that they felt they were treated like VIPs. But now, what about the parents?

Did I mention that the girls had their own room? We had two connecting bedrooms that made the whole stay a very enjoyable one. No TV or bathroom to share, nothing child related in our space and the girls really enjoyed the feeling of being in charge of their room. For a $179 a night stay, I really felt that it was worth it as each ‘generation’ had enough room to breathe and a personal space.

The swimming pool was too hard to resist, so with a new goggle wearing 7 year old and a disappointed cast wearing 10 years old (never a good idea to break your finger before the summer), we headed off to the swimming pool where towels were provided for guests. Just this will make me go back. I dislike having to bring towels from my room to the pool and I just do not want to pack bulky beach towels when I go on a trip. Having towels by the pool was a big hit for me.

After swimming, off to the room for a game of SORRY. Another treat! I love board games! The Wild Palms has a decent selection of board games for its guests and we had fun playing a board game that we do not have at home.
The hotel does not have a restaurant on-site but there are dozens of restaurants and fast food places within walking distance. We decided to go to the Acapulco Mexican Restaurant, a 5 minute car drive since we had been to that restaurant before and enjoy their food.

The beds are so comfortable; we all had a nice sleep rest. Showers in the morning is something I enjoy at home, but often not in hotels because of the poor quality of the shower products. But the Wild Palms had a nice surprise: bergamot scented bath products. Bergamot is used in aromatherapy to fight stress, so it has a very peaceful and fresh scent. Coupled with warm water, you’ll easily be put in a happy mood. And off we went for breakfast. The breakfast room was crowded, but after we put everything we wanted on a tray, it began to empty out. We were there at 9:00 am and it closes at 9:30 am. We should have gone earlier because after we helped ourselves, there was a shortage of pastries. The breakfast room was surprisingly not noisy even though it was packed. The Jacuzzi and pools were open already , but it was time for us to hit the road.

The Wild Palms hotel got the seal of approval from the parents

We like:

- Kids are really VIP: board games, buckets full of treats that had Daughter 1 exclaim: ‘we are treated like royalty’

- Nice details: towels provided at the pool, bath products that you actually want to use, fresh fruit and lemonade in the lobby, two toilet paper rolls instead of one (not that we are going to use it all, but I like seeing two), low bathtub.

- Having a fridge in the bedroom for the leftover milk and restaurant dishes.

- The colors: lots of yellow and blue all around the hotels: bring you peace and relaxation. Bergamot scented bath products add the final peaceful touch. The curtains by the pool and the cabanas added some chic.

- For the geeks: cable for DSL at the desk inside the rooms resulting in faster internet than with WIFI.

- The staff is professional and patient. They did not even give me the bad eye when I showed up at the front desk asking how to see the channels on the TV. For my defense, it was not obvious.

- Two computers and printers available by the lobby: you can check the activities you want to do online or on their lobby (they have flyers to the main attractions), buy your tickets online, and print them right there.

- Central location to the activities of the Silicon Valley: minutes from the San Jose Museums (Rosicrucian park, Winchester house etc), Great America, Hakone gardens in Saratoga and all the great activities and museums of the Peninsula.

Could do better:

- The bathroom is a little small but I have to say that I appreciate seeing a non-slippery mat, very useful for younger children. If you still need to bathe your children, the space to sit facing the bathtub is limited.

- So many details that I appreciated like supplies at the desk but strangely enough not a pen in sight.

- I would have liked to see a note on how to turn the channels on for the TV. Believe me, it was not obvious.
Recommended for families with children age 4 years and up

This review is based on a complimentary stay at the Wild Palm Hotel in Sunnyvale. I received no other compensation besides the hotel stay, and the hotel did not express any requirement that I express a particular point of view.

Rates for other Joie de Vivre hotels

Moorpark Starting at $99

Domain  Starting at $109

Avante Starting at $159

Los Gatos Starting at $219

Shorebreak

Hotel Maya - Rates: From $169.00

Hotel Tomo

Say goodbye to bland airplane blankets, say hello to the fuzzy, warm, and colorful BearHug!

Our family arrived this week in Paris after a long flight. We have been doing it for 11 years now and our routine got easier and easier after all these years.

This year, there was a change in our carry-on. We traveled with the Bear-Hug blankets! One for each kid. I interviewed the founder of the Bear Hugs, Ymke Dioquino last November and I bought a blanket for each of my children for Christmas. The blanket folds into a neat and colorful backpack that your child can carry like a backpack. There is also a little pocket to put a book, DS, or a stuffed animal. We had brought it for our December trip to Las Vegas and Los Angeles and we use it at home as a blanket all the time. But it was the first time that we were using it in the airplane.

For the first flight (we had a layover), the bear hugs was not opened and was used as a pillow. And what a comfy pillow it makes! It is so fluffy. And because it was a domestic flight, there was no pillow or blanket so my kids were very happy with their BearHug.

For the second flight Toronto-Paris, one my children used it as a pillow and the other one as a blanket. Thais was all wrapped up in her pink BearHug all happy while my husband and I were barely covered by our uninspired navy blue fabric. My favorite thing about the blanket when I get to use it is that there is a cut in the middle so when you wrap it around you, you do not have a bigger amount of fabric at your neck, preventing you from feeling uncomfortable.

Packing the Bearhug: it comes with a note on how to fold it. I am directions challenged and cannot fold it. My 10 years old folds it all the time after looking at the direction once so really it is that easy unless you are me.

I was a little bit concerned about folding the blanket in the plane because she usually lays it on the floor to fold it but she showed me the quick way: push everything in the little bag and it fits nicely. If you look at the photo, you can see that the bear hug does not take that much space. It is really light.

Now that the kids are in Paris, they still use the blanket to sleep and cover themselves when they watch TV. When I was jetlagged and slept from being tired, I wrapped myself into it and got a good nap, all warm and cozy! I am even writing this post wrapped in the blanket! That’s how much parents and children love it, once you have one; you are hooked to its cuddling effect.

Read my interview with the founder of BearHugs, Ymke Dioquino, click here. Take advantage of the discount ‘bestgift’ and get 10% off your BearHug never have your kids (and yourself) sleep on airplane blankets anymore!

My daughter Olivia likes her BearHug so much that she created a video:

Father's day activities in the Bay Area

What are you going to do on Father’s Day?

There are a lot of exciting events happening all around the Bay Area and it will be difficult to pick one.

Train loving dad? Choo Choo to the Roaring Camp in Felton

Treat dad to a steam train ride and chuck wagon BBQ and listen to the sounds of live country entertainment. Each dad receives an engineer’s cap. One lucky Dad is selected per train to ride down the mountain in the cab of the locomotive.
Click here to reserve,

Pirate nostalgic dad? Take him to the Vallejo Pirate Festival!
Sat. June 20 10am to dusk; Sun. June 21 10am to 6pm – Free admission, click here for directions
Just check out their photo gallery and you know you will want to go! They even encourage you to come dressed as pirates.

Solar Car Dad?
His destination will the Chabot Science Center in Oakland (1pm - 3pm or 3pm - 5pm) where you will work together in teams to design, build and race Solar Lego® cars. Round up your dad, brother, uncle, cousin or neighbor and sign up for this fun special event.
To Register: (510) 336-7373

Ship loving Dad?
Bring Dad aboard the historic USS Hornet Museum in Alameda to experience “Living Ship Day." Visitors will have the opportunity to participate in mission briefings, see airplanes lifted to the flight deck, and sit in a fighter jet cockpit. Family activities and ship tours will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission is adults $14, seniors (65 and older) $12, Military ID and students $12, youth 5-17 $6, under 5 years free with paying adult.

Bucolic dad?

Bring a picnic and blanket and attend the free summer concert held at 2:00 pm at the Stern Grove. Roberta Flack and Davel Crawford will play for Father’s day. You can enter to win picnic seats at any concert of the summer, click here for more information.

From 12:00 until 1:00 p.m. before every concert each season, kids of all ages are invited to participate in hands-on arts projects and programs at KidStage in the West Meadow.

Different activities are featured at each concert, from mural-making, singing and dance lessons to crafts and drumming, and more! One June 2st, the theme is Precita Eyes mural painting

Nature Loving Dad?
All the US National Park will be free the week-end of Father’s day so just pick the one you like and enjoy a green day! Here is the list of the National Park located in California:

Cabrillo National Monument
Death Valley National Park
John Muir National Historic Site
Joshua Tree National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Lava Beds National Monument
Muir Woods National Monument
Pinnacles National Monument
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
Sequoia National Park
Whiskeytown Unit National Recreation Area
Yosemite National Park

Note that they will also be free on July 18-19th and August 15-16^th.

Enjoy your Day!

Travel deal, news and tip

The travel deals and news weekly feature is brought to us thanks to Mike at InFlightOut (www.inflightout.com). He is always on the look out for great deals and sharing them with us. Follow him on Twitter @inflightout.

In this post, find a deal to visit our friends down under, some news about border crossing rules and UA new routes from San Francisco, and InflightOut travel tip on emailing travel documents to ourselves.

TRAVEL DEAL

San Francisco to Sydney $601 "All In" on United

HOT FARE: $601 roundtrip, including all taxes and fees - will get you from SFO (or LAX) to Sydney or Melbourne, Australia on United Airlines.  Now that is a heck of a sale. 

Details: Overall, there are few restrictions. Your outbound flight can be any day of the week between July 1 and November 30, 2009*. No advance ticketing requirements apply to economy class tickets. $250 fee + applicable fare difference if you make changes to the reservation before departure. Books into "K" class.

Have friends in the Big Apple? They can fly down under for just $60 bucks more! Visit the United Airlines website for more details on this sale.

*Sale t&c states outbound travel by December 16th, but the lowest fare class we found permits outbound travel no later than November 30.

TRAVEL NEWS

Border Crossing Rules Now in Effect

New security rules for land and sea border crossings went into effect on Monday. The rules, part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) were originally intended to start in 2008 but were delayed due to concerns on how they might impact commerce. The initiative states all U.S. citizens must present a passport, passport card or enhanced drivers license when entering the country. Some citizens may also use a trusted traveler document, which require background checks and often used by people crossing the border regularly for business. A similar requirement for entering the country by air went into effect in 2007.

United Set To Launch New Routes from SFO This Week

After making announcements earlier this year, United Airlines says it is ready to launch several new nonstop routes from San Francisco International Airport later this week. Here is a listing of those routes:

• SFO to Spokane, Washington (GEG) 2 flights per day - Regional jet service
• SFO to Pasco, Washington (PSC)   2 flights per day - Regional jet service
• SFO to Minneapolis, Minnesota (MSP) 1 flight per day - Airbus 319/320 service
• SFO to Toronto, Canada (YYZ) 1 flight per day - Airbus 319/320 service.

United also plans to add nonstop service between San Francisco and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in early September. 

Visit United Airlines for more information and to check availability.

TRAVEL TIP

inFLIGHTout Travel Tip: Email Important Documents to Yourself

By Mike Grasso

Even what seems the most solid planning and preparation occasionally fails. Take for example a recent trip to Boston: I had booked a car rental with a reputable agency months in advance and armed myself with a copy my itinerary, evidence of such reservation. Well, through a series of unfortunate inflight mishaps, coffee ended up soiling my paper itinerary, causing it to be unreadable. So, when I showed up at the car rental agency, you guessed it, they for whatever reason, had no reservation on file for me, and I no longer had no proof anything existed either. I was ready to fly back home at this point. 

But, the magic of the Internet and an Internet capable mobile device saved the situation. I simply logged into my email account, scrolled to my "active travel" folder and bada-bing, with a sense of pride and accomplishment, I flashed the reservation to the front desk agent who quickly processed my reservation.

The lesson: A hard copy of all your travel plans are great (airline, car rental, hotel, tours), but also storing an electronic copy, which can be accessed anywhere you have Internet capability, improves on that. With the e-versions of itineraries, I store them in email folders labelled, "active travel" and "past travel" which helps locate files quickly - such as when standing at the car rental counter in Boston.

How to overcome your children fear of flying

Taking the airplane is safe but as we saw this week on the news, with the Air France plane crashing at sea, accidents happen and when they do, they are unlikely to end up with a happy ending.

Children fear of flying can be triggered by watching the news or a movie, reading a book, or people talking about then. I carefully never exposed my daughters to airplanes crashing news. The oldest got confronted to it one September 11^th when her elementary school made an announcement for a minute of silence for the people who died in the airplanes that crashed in the twin towers that day. She came home, crying and telling me that she never wanted to go to France again because she did not want to die crashing in towers. I calmed her down and by the next June, she was flying back to France without worries. Still, I would have preferred to talk about this awful event using my own words and not having her hear about it over a speakerphone.

The accident of the Air France plane brought back all these insecurities for all of us and since families will be flying this summer (our family is flying on June 12^th), I believe it is the right time to educate ourselves as parents on how to handle our children fear of flying if they experience any.

Tamar Chansky is a child psychologist, parent expert and is the author of the book: Freeing Your Child from Anxiety: Powerful, Practical Solutions to Overcoming Your Child's Fears, Worries and Phobias. She shares with us some solutions on children’s fear of flying.

Her solutions:

Start with empathy: if parents just try to talk their kids out of their fears, kids will still be afraid but may also be frustrated because parents aren't listening. Tell your child that it is Ok to be a little afraid, but you want to help him feel better.

Next: the facts: Ask your child what he is afraid of about flying and what he thinks/knows about plane crashes. Make it clear that plane crashes are rare. Recent statistics state that one in every eleven million planes crash. Help make it concrete-- for kids. Eleven million-- imagine how many pennies that would be? That is the population of Ohio!

Sometimes children have been on a flight with a lot of turbulence or get afraid by the normal sounds of the plane-- help them get familiar by "simulating" a flight in your living room. Have the child make the sounds of the wings, the wheels, etc. Car washes are great approximaters of some of the sounds and sensations of a flight.

Next: Coping: ask your child what his worry is telling him about flying, then ask him to "take out his imaginary red pen" and mark the statements as right or wrong. Have the child fill in the "right" answers, e.g., Plane crashes are rare, millions of flights happen every year perfectly. Worrying about this doesn't help, so I'm not going to.

Finally: Ask your child to focus on positive aspects of the trip-- where they are going, what they want to do, etc Gather together activities for the plane to help the time pass faster.

Patricia Vaccarino from Seattle had to deal with her daughter anxiety the hard way when classmates of her then 6 year old daughter died when the Alaska Airlines airplane they were one crashed on its way to Seattle. She shared with me how she dealt with it. Here is her testimony:

‘My intent was to get Sarah on to a plane ASAP to show her that not all planes crash. So the month after the crash, I took Sarah to Disney land. I let Alaska airlines know in advance that Sarah had been in the class that lost four children.

When we arrived at the airport, Sarah was called to board the plane before anyone else. Once she was on the plane, the captain greeted her. He brought her into the cockpit and explained how the plane worked and described safety protocol in a way that she could understand. Then later, mid-flight, the captain sent a note to Sarah that was delivered by a flight attendant to let her know that she was safe. When the flight landed, the captain personally escorted Sarah from the plane.

I think this response by Alaska Airlines made a real difference in Sarah's perceptions about flying and safety. Sarah is now 15 and has no qualms about flying.

A simple call to the air carrier in advance can potentially make all the difference in the world.’

Still feeling anxious?

Carole Lieberman is Beverly Hills psychiatrist for children and adults and she has created the first in-flight entertainment programs used on airlines to help people with fear of flying Shrink on Board. You can order her CDs and DVDs online and have your family experience a very calming and relaxing flight. Click here to watch the trailer.

There is a solution for every fear and the right words and methods will help your children overcome their anxiety about flying.